INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Most of the players in the NBA grew up dreaming of being on this stage. They were the stars of middle school AAU teams with fantasies of being the next Stephen Curry or Paul George.
Growing up in Ans, Belgium, Ajay Mitchell dreamed of the NBA, too, but it there was a bigger question — did he really want to be the next Jalen Brunson or the next Belgium/Manchester City legend Kevin De Bruyne?
"Oh, that's a good question. I think a little bit of both," Mitchell told NBC Sports, adding he played soccer as a youth and is still a huge fan. "I think, until I was probably like 14, it was both. And then when I was 14, I kind of made the decision to just pursue basketball, because, obviously, in Belgium, we didn't have high school sports, so it was hard to play multiple sports because it's all the same season. So when I was 14, I decided to just play basketball."
That decision was the first step of a winding journey that took Mitchel through idyllic Santa Barbara, California and ultimately landed him in Oklahoma City — where fans now see an "overnight" sensation averaging 16.1 points a game, someone who is the current DraftKings betting favorite to win Sixth Man of the Year.
But that journey was anything but overnight.
Belgium to Santa Barbara to OKC
After Mitchell committed to basketball, he soon found himself in Limburg United's youth program in Belgium, where he played as a member of the youth team, eventually transitioning to the senior team during the 2020–21 season.
"I think it really helped me playing professional before college," Mitchell said, in terms of getting used to a level of play.
However, for the kid with an American father, playing college ball in the United States was always the dream. He landed at UC Santa Barbara, a beachside campus that may be the most chill college in America.
"It was a pretty smooth adjustment for me ..." Mitchell said of moving stateside. "I think it really helped just the way it was in Santa Barbara. We had like six incoming freshmen when I got in, so it was really easy to get adjusted. And the guys that were already there just kind of, like, brought us in. So it was, it was really smooth.
"And I think off the court was pretty easy. It's a great school, so I was really happy."
Like he is now in OKC, Mitchell wasn't flashy in Santa Barbara, but he just made the right basketball play and knocked down his shots — you could see he knew how to play the game. He was always doing the little things and had an impact from the start, being named Big West Freshman of the Year in 2022. The following season, he averaged 16.3 points and 5.1 assists a game for the Gauchos and was the Big West Player of the Year.
He also was drawing interest from scouts. By the end of the 2023-24 season, Mitchell declared himself for the NBA Draft.
Adjusting to Oklahoma City
The Knicks drafted Mitchell with the No. 38 pick but instantly traded him to the Thunder, with whom he signed a two-way contract. Even then, Mitchell was overlooked and in the shadows — Nikola Topić was the Thunder's lottery pick in that draft. However, Topic was injured while Mitchell was playing himself into rotation minutes as a rookie, thanks to his efforts in Summer League and training camp. Mitchell was putting in the work, and the Thunder noticed.
"He was playing rotation minutes in the first game of the season last year for what was a very deep team ..." Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "It allowed him to get some miles underneath him and learn the league a little bit so that when he sat [due to injury], he sat with the contextual awareness of what it was like to be an NBA player and play in NBA games. I think he was still able to learn and evolve even though he was out."
Mitchell missed three months of his rookie season with a toe injury that required surgery, but by that point the Thunder knew what they had and converted his two-way contract to a standard one. From his perspective, Mitchell was still figuring things out and adjusting, but he said the key was that he never stopped looking for ways to improve.
"Speed is definitely one. I think defensively too, being able to guard multiple positions," Mitchell said of the hardest adjustments from going from Santa Barbara to the NBA. "I think everything is such a different game than college …
"It was an adjustment, but I think I understood right away this is the NBA, and for me, my goal is to have a long career. So understanding what I had to do to help a team win was really important early on and I think it was a pretty smooth adjustment. Obviously, I just want to win, so when I'm focused on what I have to do to win to help the team win, that's all I have to do."
Like going from Belgium to Santa Barbara before, the adjustment from a California coastal oasis to Oklahoma City was made much easier because the Thunder are a young roster with a core around his age (23).
"For sure it makes it easier. Obviously, we've got a lot of young guys, and then we all hang out," Mitchell said. "So it's fun to have such a young team and it was really easy for me to just get in the mix of things with those guys, and they made it really easy for me just putting me in everything they do."
Making the leap this season
Mitchell returned from his toe injury late in the season and was on the roster for the Thunder's run to an NBA title last spring.
"Obviously, I think anybody being around a playoff run like that and getting some minutes, spot minutes at times, is good for them," Daigneault said. "Then he was able to take that wisdom into his summer. He got his body really, really strong, he got his game tighter and better, and he came out firing this year."
Again, that "overnight" success came about because of a summer spent in the gym, particularly in the weight room.
"I always wanted to be like a complete player, so I think every summer for me it's like working on a little bit of everything or try to get better at a lot of things," Mitchell said. "I think the main focus [this summer] was my body. When you get in the league as a rookie, you definitely feel a difference in like physicality and how the game is played. So I think for me that was the focus was getting stronger, getting faster, and being ready to play at this level … It's such a long season compared to like a college season, you want to be healthy and you want to be ready to go every night."
This summer, Mitchell signed a three-year, $8.7 million contract (with a team option on the last season) that now looks like an absolute steal for the Thunder. Mitchell has come out playing aggressively, took over secondary playmaking duties off the bench, and on an already deep team he has become a standout sixth man.
Mitchell is just taking it all in stride.
"For me, I just want to help this team win in any way I can," Mitchell said. "I don't really look at any roles. I just go out there and do what it takes to win."
The 8-0 Thunder are winning. Mitchell is winning, too, and he could do a lot more of that this season — and even take home some league hardware.
Just don't call it an "overnight" success.
